As Busch and Earnhardt raced side-by-side into the third corner, however, the No. 18 Toyota twitched. Busch
fought to control the car but, in close quarters, couldn't prevent it from sliding up the track into
Earnhardt's Chevy. Earnhardt spun and Busch continued in second place, after eventual race winner Clint
Bowyer dodged the wreck and took the lead.
Almost as quickly, we hit the "delete" key and began writing about controversy, not glory, surrounding
Earnhardt.
The same Earnhardt fans who had risen en masse and roared in unison as their driver took the lead from
Hamlin expressed their displeasure at Busch in no uncertain terms.
"I've never seen as many middle fingers in my life coming from the fans," crew chief Chad Knaus radioed to
driver Jimmie Johnson, Earnhardt's teammate at Hendrick Motorsports.
Some went so far as to hurl beer cans and trash over the catch fence onto the track.
"They were going crazy, and you see it, but you don't pay attention to it," Busch said after the race. "I
don't know why they were telling me I was No. 1 for the last 10 laps of the race, when I was in second
place still. Clint Bowyer got the lead from me. They were all confused, I guess -- too many old Junior
Budweisers, or maybe they were AMPed up."
You can blame Busch for not knowing when to leave well enough alone. You can blame him for his oblique
postrace reference to Earnhardt's jack man, Rick Pigeon, the jack man for Casey Mears last season who asked
Earnhardt to sub for Busch in Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 car last spring after a wreck at Texas Motor
Speedway.
That gave Earnhardt his first taste of Hendrick equipment. Less than three months later, he signed with the
organization.
Pigeon, an ardent friend of Earnhardt, confronted Busch after the race.
"He was the one that went over to Dale to ask him to get in the car at Texas Motor Speedway," Busch said.
"And, you know, I've been since dismissed from Hendrick Motorsports and am racing at Job Gibbs. You know,
last year we got wrecked twice by the 8 car (driven by Junior for Dale Earnhardt Inc.) in the Chase, and I
feel like those were the situations that took us out of the running for the championship -- and that had
nothing to do with tonight."
Busch's dismissal from Hendrick still stings, and it shows. But it had nothing to do with the wreck on
Saturday night. None of the extraneous, intangible factors did, even though Busch might have given credence
to the notion in his postrace comments.
Sure, Busch has something to prove to owner Rick Hendrick, but the best way to do that is by beating the
Hendrick cars to the finish line, not by wrecking them. It's no accident that Busch has seven wins and four
runner-up finishes in 25 starts combined in NASCAR's top three series this year.
The wreck was a racing accident, and -- be honest -- you wouldn't even question that assertion if Busch had
been fighting for the lead against anyone else.
So blame it on the rain. Blame it on the moon. Blame it on the bossa nova. Blame Canada.
Just don't blame Kyle Busch for racing like a man possessed.
That's what he does -- and that's who he is.
And the sport is better for it.
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